Naïm Kattan

Naïm Kattan, (August 26, 1928 – July 2, 2021) was a Canadian novelist, essayist and critic of Iraqi Jewish origin. He is the author of more than 30 books, translated into several languages.
Biography
Kattan spent the first years of his life growing up in Jewish Baghdad, and studied at the University of Baghdad from 1945 until 1947. Those years of his life are explored throughout his novel Farewell, Babylon. First published in French as Adieu, Babylone in 1975, his novel was translated by Sheila Fischman and published in English in 1976. The early years of Kattan's life were complicated. Kattan recalls in Farewell, Babylon the experiences of growing up in a community torn between Jewish and Arab nationalisms, the horrors of the 1941 Farhud, and anti-Semitism, but also Jewish successes in the cosmopolitan Arab city.
In 1947, Kattan was awarded a scholarship from the government of France, and left Iraq to study literature at the Sorbonne in Paris. Kattan emigrated to Montreal in 1954. In partnership with the Canadian Jewish Congress, Naim Kattan founded Le Cercle Juif, a publication dedicated to building cultural ties between Jewish and French Canada in the 1950, which was the first non-Catholic French-language periodical published in Montreal. Kattan went on to write a literary column in Le Devoir, and for close to 25 years he headed the writing and publishing division of the Canada Council for the Arts Writing and Publication program. Kattan was also an Associate Professor in the Department of Literary Studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Works
Farewell, Babylon
Farewell, Babylon is a fictionalized memoir of Kattan's early years growing up in Jewish Baghdad. A story of life, sorrow, and coming of age, Farewell, Babylon is at once a history lesson and an homage to Jewish Baghdad. First published in French in 1975 as, "Adieu, Babylone," the novel was translated by Sheila Fischman and published in English in 2005. It is the first of a trilogy that follows protagonist Meir as he moves from Iraq, to France and finally to Canada, a personal and professional trajectory that mirrors the author’s own. The work narrates a series of scenes, not necessarily in chronological order, of the protagonist’s adolescence. Farewell, Babylon and Kattan himself are little known outside academic circles. However, the work is a critical read for anyone interested in the history, culture and politics of modern Iraq. While Farewell, Babylon could be considered historical literature, the main theme of the novel is coming- of-age. Subsequent themes are identity, existence and love of literature.
Cities of Birth
Naim Kattan wrote Cities of Birth, a short story about place. The story is a celebration of the cities that have enriched Kattan’s life. This short story is essential to understanding Kattan’s body of work through the years, especially his relation to identity and place as themes in his writings. The story is about Paris, Berlin, Montreal and Istanbul. However, the essence of the story is about the experiences Kattan had in each place and his Jewish heritage.
Legacy
Naim Kattan has been provided many titles: author and critic; academic; pluralist; Arab; Jew; Canadian and Francophone. He has famously never accepted or rejected any one of these titles. Instead, Kattan has embraced the theme of identity and concept of rebirth. Naim Kattan has said that he was born three times: first in Baghdad, then in Paris and a third birth in Montréal (reference).
In 2013, the Canadian director Joe Balass directed a documentary titled La longueur de l'alphabet avec Naïm Kattan about Kattan's literary legacy.
Honours
In 1983 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
In 1990 he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.
In 2002 he was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, for his lifelong contribution to international francophone culture.
In 2004 he received the Prix Athanase-David.
In 2004 he received an honoris causa Ph.D. from the University of Novi Sad in Serbia
In 2006 he received an honorary degree from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec Canada.
Bibliography
1975: Adieu, Babylone: Mémoires d'un juif d'Irak
1977: Les Fruits arrachés
1983: La Fiancée promise
1989: La Fortune du passager
1990: Le Père
1991: Farida
1997: La Célébration
1999: L'Amour reconnu
1999: Le Silence des adieux
2000: L'Anniversaire
2003: Le Gardien de mon frère
2005: Je regarde les femmes
2006: Châteaux en Espagne
2009: Le Veilleur
2011: Le long retour
References
External links
Naïm Kattan at The Canadian Encyclopedia
Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry
Prix Athanase-David citation
National Order of Quebec citation
Naim Kattan Biography on BookRags.com
"Naïm Kattan: an Iraqi Jewish Writer in Canada" in The Jewish Daily Forward, May 25, 2010
Kattan at encyclopedia.com
Fonds Naïm Kattan (R6576) at Library and Archives Canada
1928 births
2021 deaths
Canadian male novelists
Canadian people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
Iraqi Jews
Iraqi emigrants to Canada
Jewish Canadian writers
Knights of the National Order of Quebec
Canadian male essayists
Officers of the Order of Canada
Prix Athanase-David winners
University of Baghdad alumni
University of Paris alumni
Writers from Baghdad
Writers from Montreal
20th-century Canadian essayists
20th-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian essayists
21st-century Canadian male writers